While St. Edward’s University students were preparing for and taking final exams last semester, Teresa Hall Residence Director Christy Brown was fulfilling her lifelong dream of becoming a contestant on the game show “Jeopardy!”

Brown has watched the show since she was a child, and by the time she was 13 or 14, she had her own practice buzzer to play along with the contestants.

Brown’s efforts to become a real contestant began about a year ago, when she decided to take the online qualifying test.

Brown said the test consisted of 50 categories and 50 questions with 15 seconds to answer each one. 

To prepare, her fellow residence directors helped her study by going over Trivial Pursuit clues during lunch.

Overall, she said she really didn’t study too hard.

“I figured you either know it, or you don’t,” Brown said.

And, apparently, she knew it.

Near the end of the 2009 spring semester, she received an e-mail inviting her to an in-person audition in Kansas City, Mo., at the end of June.

At the audition, Brown took another 50 question test, played a mock game of “Jeopardy!” and was interviewed.

However, her performance at the audition did not land her an immediate spot on the game show. Like the other interviewees, Brown was kept as an active member of the Jeopardy! contestant pool for the next 18 months.

On Nov. 10, 2009, she received a call asking her to fly to Los Angeles in early December to film the show.

“I was shocked because even though I thought I would be a good contestant, I didn’t really ever think that I would get a chance on my first try of being on the show,” she said.

For a month, Brown brushed up on facts, focusing much of her efforts on the U.S. Presidents, Shakespeare and literature. She continued to watch “Jeopardy!” every night with her play buzzer, but she never crammed.

On Dec. 6, 2009, Brown flew to Los Angeles. She was in the studio filming the next day. “The moment I walked through the double doors into the studio to play a practice round and saw the familiar blue screens and background, I started grinning from ear to ear,” she said. “I don’t think I stopped smiling for most of the day.”

With the excitement, nerves came as well.

Because the show is shot in about a half hour, Brown says there isn’t much time to stop and take it all in.

“I don’t know if I’m really looking forward to seeing myself on national television, because I’m pretty sure I looked crazed from excitement that entire day of taping,” she said.

For Brown, the most surreal moment of the whole experience was standing at the podium, hearing the opening music, being introduced, and then seeing Alex Trebek walk through the doors.

Brown said she is appreciative of the support she has received during the process.

“The whole St. Edward’s community, especially Residence Life and Teresa Hall staff and residents, have been so excited for and supportive of me during my ‘Jeopardy!’ adventure, and I can’t thank them enough,” she said. “St. Edward’s is a great place to live and work.”Brown cannot reveal how well she did on the show. Regardless of the outcome, she is able to divulge that she did win money, because third place wins $1,000, and second place wins $2,000 regardless of the outcome.

To see how well Brown did, tune in Feb. 16 to Austin channel KXAN (NBC) at 4:30 p.m.